While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white.

The glory of Jesus was revealed to his inner circle of disciples as he was praying. Jesus was radiant for he truly is the Light of the world. His glory was meant to show that he is the fulfillment of both the law and the prophets. He is the promised one. Against all appearances of powerlessness and defeat come the day of Jesus’ trials, suffering and death, this experience would prepare them and bolster their faith and courage. Finding inner strength from who Jesus truly is, they were to be the focal points that would hold together this nascent and fragile group of followers of the Nazarene until the full Revelation of Christ’s glory at Resurrection, at which point they would be sent on a mission to the ends of the world.

Strictly speaking, the Transfiguration of the Lord therefore belongs to the Resurrection. At that moment, the experience would be etched in their hearts and set them ablaze! They would be drawn into this fullness of Jesus’ self-revelation, and be compelled to witness to the Good News by word and deed. That was how the evangelization was embraced and proclaimed by the first disciples. They spoke of Jesus with so much passion and sincerity that people who heard of their proclamation saw the truth and were moved. They saw the light of Jesus burning in them that it was an easy slide to profess one’s faith. In other words, the light of the Transfigured Christ shone in both the bearers and the receivers, from one generation to the next. The passion to live and spread the Good news was very personal, alive and dynamic!

Today, over 2,000 years removed from the actual experience of Jesus’ glory, we must ask where did the passion go? Why are very few hearts remain ablaze? Why are we, in general, not so drawn to live and share the Good News? As members of the one Body of Christ, why are we not manifesting the Transfigured Christ in our family, community and society? Why is the Light of Jesus flickering in the way we live especially in the darkness of life’s challenges in all aspects of human endeavor, including the Church? Could it be that we have not yet truly encountered Jesus in the way that the first disciples did?

We are meant to this generation’s bearers of the Light in the world that sorely needs it! We need to recover what is lacking in the transmission, reception and nourishment of our faith. The Word of God has never lost its power to move the hearts of men and women. We just need to allow it to come to us in the fullness of Jesus’ Glory!​O Jesus, our light and our mercy, set our hearts on fire with the glory of your love that we may be renewed to become once more your Church driven by your mission! Amen.

Steadfastness in Faith and Obedience to God in Times of TemptationBro. Jerson Hiponia

The temptation is part of Christian life’s struggle. It is the weapon of the devil to attract the People of God into rebellion: turning away from the source of life and falling into sin. The temptation of the devil is always a test of one’s faith and obedience to God. When honed and strengthened, faith and obedience are weapons to resist temptation.

The book of Genesis illustrates, through the figure of Adam and Eve, how the state of one’s faith and obedience to God spell either life or death in the face of temptation. We gather from their story that weak faith and obedience lead human beings to the trap of sin. Put that side by side with today’s Gospel, Luke 4:1-13, and we see a great contrast. The Devil tempted Jesus by presenting and offering him all the power and riches on earth. In exchange, he wanted worship and adoration, usurping what belongs rightly to God alone. But Jesus is steadfast in His faith and obedience to God the Father. He was never attracted to what the devil offered. He knew power and riches far greater than what the world can offer.

Human experience shows that we too have to confront this temptation. The material world continues to dangle this temptation, ready to devour us and displace our faith and obedience to God with what is incapable of fulfilling our humanity. Modern society caters to human longing to be in control, to be happy, content, and satisfied but delivers only lies. People often buy and fall into the lure of these empty promises.

We now enter the election period as a nation. We are now witnessing a parade of politicians putting on friendly, caring and happy faces. They sing and dance to entertain to win our attention. They reach out for us, shake our hands, embrace us as if we were their long lost friends. Most of them present utopian dreams that will feed our collective dreams for a better life, and promise us power and riches like the devil. They proclaim that they shall serve the poor, address our basic needs, solve our problems and so on. They even use the sexual scandal in the Church, a deep wound in the Body of Christ, to advance their interest by denouncing priests and bishops, including the Pope. They spread biased and destructive statements in order to tempt the Christian community to turn their back against the Church, and therefore erode its influence on the people.

These temptations test our faith and obedience to God. We should remember, however, that Jesus was subjected to the same temptations and came out of it victorious! In the same manner, in this season of Lent, Jesus is calling us to be steadfast and to strengthen our faith and obedience to God. These will be our weapons to stand triumphantly in the midst of all the temptations of evil around us.

As we are about to begin our Lenten season the Gospel of today (Luke 6:38-45) is inviting us to be attentive that we do not become like the self-appointed / self-proclaimed pastors or judges. To highlight this important matter, Jesus has given three parables with a single implication:

Jesus Christ is not against helping others or guiding someone but he is encouraging his disciples to be aware of their own faults and weaknesses so that in teaching or guiding others they do not become judgmental and condemnatory. On the other hand, Jesus is also telling his audience to be careful while choosing someone to follow (Luke 6:38-40). He strongly warns us today from the self-proclaimed / self-appointed pastors or leaders who think they have special wisdom but often have selfish/hidden agenda to take advantage of the innocent people (Matthew 24:24). Jesus does not intend anyone to go through life blindly while accepting everything he sees and hears (Matthew 24:4). He encourages discernment in every step of one’s life as exemplified by St. Paul (Philippians 2:4).

Since Christian life according to St. John Eudes “is the continuation and completion of the life of Christ in us,” we are invited to imitate Jesus’ attitude of compassion. We ought not to have any judgmental attitude (Luke 6:37; 6:41-42) because we all have faults and we have no right to judge the faults of others.

Only God is our judge! Only God has all the right to judge us (Romans 14:10-12 & James 4:12) for he alone is perfect (Matthew 5:48); while those who usurp this divine function, the self-appointed judges and self-righteous people, are imperfect. Whereas our divine judge shows mercy, the usurpers go after position, money and power without regard for others (Luke 6:36). Let us, therefore, be careful about judging others through our words and actions. Rather, Jesus tells us to bear good fruits (John 15:8).

A good tree, rooted well on the earth, produces a good fruit, whereas a bad tree either produces a bad fruit or never produces anything at all (Luke 6:43-44). With this self-evident principle, Jesus shows us the way to discernment and to always opt for what would deepen our roots in God (Jeremiah 17:8). If we are rooted in Jesus Christ, we will bring much fruits (John 15:5). Our words and actions are the reflection of our inner being. What is in our heart, we bring out through our words and actions. Therefore, we are invited to submit ourselves to Jesus that he may create a pure heart in us (Psalm 51:12) so that we may do the right thing with the right intention (Matthew 6:21).

May Mary, the Mother of Jesus, help us to make the right choices, so that through Jesus, we may bear fruit abundantly in our lives.